Rory McIlroy came out of the gates with authority at Augusta National, firing a first round 65 to take the clubhouse lead at The Masters. McIlroy ascent to the top of The Masters leaderboard was swift as the youngster put together a perfect day. Hist first birdie came on hole No. 2, followed by birdies on No. 3, No. 4 and No. 9 going out. He added birdies on No. 11, No. 14 and No. 15 to close the round at 7-under with no bogeys on the card.
Matt Kuchar is lurking as he hits the home stretch of his first round at Augusta, currently at 5-under through 15 holes. Y.E. Yang matched McIlroy’s front nine, and is making the turn at 4-under. Tiger Woods made his way back to 1-under after a tough stretch, turning it around with back-to-back birdies on No. 13 and No. 14 after a tough bogey on No. 11. Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples are both at even par on the front nine.
A full leaderboard can be found at The Masters website. For more on the tournament, check out the rest of our 2011 Masters StoryStream. Head on over to SB Nation Atlanta for a local angle or check out SB Nation’s full coverage of the 2011 Masters.